Sidney Crosby on tying Pens legend Mario Lemieux for most assists – Source: Getty

Sidney Crosby shared his thoughts after tying Penguins legend Mario Lemieux for most assists in franchise history during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

Crosby scored a goal and three assists, bringing his career assist count to 1,033. That number matches Lemieux, who had the same number of assists over 915 games in his Hall of Fame career with Pittsburgh. Crosby has hit that mark in 1,308 games as a Penguin.

Sidney Crosby finished with four points (1G-3A) – tying Mario Lemieux for the most assists in Penguins franchise history with 1,033 – in a 7-3 win for Pittsburgh in tonight’s showdown with the Flyers.

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 24, 2024

“Obviously, I didn’t ever think I’d be close to that,” said Sidney Crosby,”I’ve played a lot of games. He played a lot less than I did. It’s what happens when you play long enough.”

Teammate Bryan Rust commented on Crosby’s achievement:

“It’s extremely impressive. But I’m not overly surprised. Sid, I think, is kind of right there with him (Lemieux) in terms of importance to this franchise, and you can see how good he’s been over his entire career, and he just keeps on doing it.”

Rust, on Crosby tying Lemieux in assists: "It’s extremely impressive. But I'm not overly surprised. Sid, I think, is kind of right there with him in terms of importance to this franchise, and you can see how good he's been over his entire career, and he just keeps on doing it."

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 24, 2024

Crosby’s performance marked his 25th career game in which he scored at least one goal and made three assists, tying with Bobby Orr and Jaromir Jagr for the fifth most.

Rickard Rakell, Michael Bunting (two goals), Rust, Blake Lizotte and Philip Tomasino also scored for the Penguins, while goaltender Tristan Jarry made 24 saves.

Noah Cates, Sean Couturier and Egor Zamula scored for the Flyers. Samuel Ersson allowed five goals on 14 shots before being pulled, while Aleksei Kolosov made six saves in relief.

Sidney Crosby comments after the Penguins’ win against the Flyers

Sidney Crosby praised his team’s offensive efficiency in their dominant 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. He highlighted Bryan Rust’s opening goal as a key momentum builder, which set the tone for the game.

“I think we’re just burying our chances,” Crosby said. “In the first we had a lot of momentum, I fely like we built off that big goal for Rusty to get us going, and, yeah, I think we’ve been just working hard, working off each other well and pucks going in.”

The win provided a confidence boost heading into the break. Crosby emphasized the team’s desire to maintain their strong form despite the upcoming pause in play.

“We’re definitely excited about the break, but we’re all encouraged by how we’re playing and want to keep it going,”he noted. So, it’s good to get some momentum before the break, and, you know, just continue to build off of that when we come back .

Sidney Crosby and Co. next face the New York Islanders on Saturday.